Mohammad Ashraful banned for eight years for match-fixing

Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was banned for eight years on Wednesday after he was found guilty of involvement in match-fixing in the domestic Twenty20 competition last year.

"He was found guilty of all charges including match-fixing," said Khademul Islam Chowdhury, head of a special tribunal set up by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to investigate match-fixing and spot-fixing during Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches.

Talented right-handed batsman Ashraful, who confessed to match-fixing after being quizzed by ICC anti-corruption officials in June 2013, has played 61 tests and 177 one-day international matches since his 2001 debut.

The tribunal also announced that New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent and Sri Lanka's Kaushal Lokuarachchi had been banned for three years and 18 months respectively after they failed to inform the authorities that they had been approached to fix matches while playing in the BPL.

Vincent is also at the centre of a match-fixing investigation in England which earlier on Wednesday resulted in former Sussex player Naveed Arif being banned from cricket for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The managing director of BPL champions Dhaka Gladiators, Shihab Jishan Chowdury, was banned for 10 years for his part in the match-fixing scandal.